Hearing Drives Persevering

Psalm 28 “For if you are silent, I might as well give up and die.” Hearing God’s voice is its own reward, but I’ve recently been meditating on how one bonus of waiting to hear on God is perseverance. As one example, I started making videos because God told me to. I had no experience and frankly no prior interest in the field, but at this point in my life, I know that when God speaks, you just have to listen. So for one year I slaved away, learning the craft and posting my work. I got some good feedback from my friends, and at times I found it really enjoyable to learn a new form of self-expression. But there were many, many times when I felt like giving up. There’s been a move over the last decade towards quick iteration and using data driven feedback to progress projects, summarized by the principles in The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries. “Run a small experiment, get feedback through data, iterate then run the next experiment” or so the logic goes. But honestly, if I had focused on the data (my videos got no traction for over a year), I would have quit my vlog project many times over. Each time I felt like giving up, I just went back to what God told me, and I knew I needed to stick with it. Fast forward another six months and my best performing video just passed 973,000 views. Today I started to wonder about the point of this devotional sharing as well, and I’m sure there will be many times that I want to stop posting this in the years to come. But I just have to remember that I’m not sharing to gain followers or to feel good about making an impact to a broader audience. Lord I just want to hear your voice and obey your commands. “For if you are silent, I might as well give up and die.” Being in your presence is its own reward. I love you. In your son’s name, Amen.

The God Standard

Psalm 138:2 “For your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.” (NLT) For the last few days I’ve been working on a video about the increasingly probable cold war between the United States and China, and its implications on the world financial system. In researching, I’ve been reminded that money is really a promise of worth. When you take a dollar or a yuan, you’re accepting the promise that you can use it somewhere else at a different time to acquire something of value. Both China and the US have plenty of issues that detract from trust, which is really what makes a promise worth something or not. The US has rising current account deficits and an increasingly brittle domestic savings situation. China’s increasingly contentious diplomatic behavior feeds fuel to the fire of doubt, especially for its neighbors. I believe all authority is appointed by God and that it is my duty to honor the Lord’s anointed. But I also believe that ultimately I lift my eyes up to the hills because that is where my help comes from. God’s promises for us are good. He is for us and not against us. He has hope and a future for us. And that is backed by something so much more powerful than the gold standard, than any government or any military. Lord thank you for your word, which is backed by all the honor of your almighty name. With it, we are emboldened to have great faith even in the midst of the most trying of trials. I love you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Father's Day & The Father's Love

Matthew 3:17 "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

On Friday, my youngest son Nate came home from school and walked up to me. “Apa, I have a present for you. Happy Father’s Day.” He handed it to me, gave me a big hug and a kiss, and proceeded to explain that I was not allowed to open up the paper to get to the chocolate inside. He had clearly taken great effort in his creation, and he felt I must take it as seriously as he had. Now Nate is 3 years old, and I cherish his gift not because it is a Picasso, but because he is my son, full stop. It got me thinking about my relationship with my heavenly father. Often I’m so caught up with my performance attitude, taking such great effort in all my endeavors so I can give him my best. He loves that, but it’s not because my effort is so great or my present to him is so perfect. No matter how hard I try, whatever I give him falls incredibly short of his standard. The Father cherishes me and anything I do because I’m his son, full stop. It’s interesting that before Jesus performed any miracles before he healed anyone or preached even a single word, God the Father opened up the heavens and said “this is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Lord, thank you for being pleased with me. Even before I did anything to earn your love, you loved me, just because I’m your son. I bless your name on this wonderful Father’s Day, and ask that you help me shed my performance mindset to come in line with your eternal and all-loving perspective. In your son’s name, Amen.